hanoi & ha long bay

Somehow walked around town when we arrived in Hanoi at 6am. Saw Hoam Kiem Lake, but couldn't be bothered to walk around it- seemed too energetic for me. We explored more of the town including the Old Quarter. We watched the Water Puppet show, which was hilarious, and so clever! Bizarre as expected, but impressive. The puppeteers have to stand in a pool for about an hour during the show, to make the puppets appear as though they move through the water. All the songs were in Vietnamese, but I had a bit of idea what was going on thanks to the program. The next morning we headed out to Ha Long Bay. The landscape was so stunning, with huge cliffs jutting out of the calm water. Photos can't do it justice. Had a big seafood lunch, before exploring one of the caves on a tiny island. The cave was massive inside, with beautiful limestone surroundings. We were able to swim at a sheltered spot in the bay. I can proudly say I was the first person to jump off the top deck into the water, even beating the 3 guys in the group! The water was so refreshing. We reached Cat Ba Island, our port for the night. Went for a walk around the cliffside to see the beaches, and caught the brief sunset, before it disappeared behind the clouds. We attempted to have a big night out, but with lack of good bars & our exhaustion, we piked out pretty early! (What a party animal, hey) It was quite overcast the next day, which was a shame beacuse there wasn't much to do apart from sit on the beach. Instead we got some moto drivers to take us around part of the island, saw the view from the top of the mountain & visited another beach. However, when they tried to make us pay more money we decided to walk back! Lazed around for the afternoon, before catching the ferry & bus back to Hanoi. It was quite sad, being the last night of the tour! Very strange to be leaving Hannah, Aideen & Ben, as we have been hanging out together for the last month! The next morning most of the group left early apart from Hannah. We went for a huge walk around Hanoi (my thongs felt much thinner afterwards), and organised our transport out of the city.